A Concurrent
Resolutionproposing to amend
Article V, Section IV of the Constitution of New Jersey by adding a new
paragraph.

Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey (the
Senate concurring):

1. The following proposed
amendment to the Constitution of the State of New Jersey is agreed to:

PROPOSED
AMENDMENT

Amend Article V, Section IV by
adding a new paragraph 7 to read as follows:

7. The Legislature is
authorized to establish by law a Bureau of Probation in the State Parole Board
and to authorize by law the transfer of all the functions, powers, duties, and
responsibilities concerning probation, and the probation officers and other professional
supervisors, case workers, and case-related employees who perform probation
functions, from the Judiciary to the Bureau of Probation. No term or condition
of any existing contract shall be altered or abrogated by this transfer and the
transfer shall not affect the status of existing exclusive employee bargaining
representatives. The units and contracts and the contract representatives
shall, therefore, be continued in the Bureau of Probation.

2. When this proposed amendment
to the Constitution is finally agreed to pursuant to Article IX, paragraph 1 of
the Constitution, it shall be submitted to the people at the next general
election occurring more than three months after the final agreement and shall
be published at least once in at least one newspaper of each county designated
by the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the General Assembly and the
Attorney General, not less than three months prior to the general election.

3. This proposed amendment
to the Constitution shall be submitted to the people at that election in the
following manner and form:

There shall be printed on each
official ballot to be used at the general election, the following:

a. In every municipality in
which voting machines are not used, a legend which shall immediately precede
the question as follows:

If you favor the proposition
printed below make a cross (X), plus (+), or check (a) in the square opposite the word "Yes." If you are
opposed thereto make a cross (X), plus (+) or check (a) in the square opposite the
word "No."

b. In
every municipality the following question:

AMENDS CONSTITUTION TO AUTHORIZE
CREATION OF BUREAU OF PROBATION IN STATE PAROLE BOARD AND TRANSFER CERTAIN
PROBATION FUNCTIONS AND PROBATION OFFICERS TO THEBUREAU.

YES

Do you approve the proposed
amendment to the New Jersey Constitution authorizing the Legislature to enact
a law that would establish a Bureau of Probation in the State Parole Board?
This law would transfer from the Judiciary to the Bureau of Probation all of
the functions, powers, duties and responsibilities concerning probation. It
also transfers the probation officers and other employees who perform
probation-related functions.

INTERPRETIVE
STATEMENT

NO

Adoption of this amendment authorizes
the Legislature to pass a law to create the Bureau of Probation in the State
Parole Board. The law will transfer the functions, powers, duties and
responsibilities concerning probation from the Judiciary to the Bureau of
Probation. The law also will transfer probation officers and other employees
who perform probation-related functions from the Judiciary to the Bureau of
Probation. The terms and conditions of existing contracts will not be altered
or abrogated by this transfer. The transfer also will not affect the status
of existing exclusive employee bargaining representatives.

STATEMENT

This Concurrent Resolution
proposes to amend the State Constitution to authorize the Legislature to enact
a statute to establish a Bureau of Probation in the State Parole Board. The
constitutional amendment transfers all of the functions, powers, duties and
responsibilities concerning probation, and the probation officers and other
professional supervisors, case workers, and case-related employees who perform
probation functions from the Judiciary to this new Bureau of Probation.

Under this proposed
constitutional amendment, existing contractual terms and conditions would
remain unchanged, as would the status of exclusive employee bargaining
representatives. The units and contracts, as well as the contract
representatives, would be continued in the Bureau of Probation.

In 2001, the Legislature
enacted a law (P.L.2001, c.362; C.2B:10A-1 et al.) to establish a “Probation
Officer Community Safety Unit” consisting of at least 200 probation officers
authorized to carry a firearm in accordance with the provisions of paragraph
(17) of subsection c. of N.J.S.2C:39-6 and regulations adopted by the Attorney
General. The legislation also granted these probation officers the authority
to arrest probationers, enforce the criminal laws of this State, and enforce
warrants for the apprehension and arrest of probationers who violate conditions
of probation.

In April 2006, the New Jersey
Supreme Court ruled that P.L.2001, c.362 (C.2B:10A-1 et al.) was
unconstitutional because it violated the separation of powers doctrine. The
court stated that it is the responsibility of the Judiciary to define the
duties of probation officers. The court also reiterated its position that
probation officers are not law enforcement officers, but impartial agents of
the Judiciary.